Eliyahu paces red-hot Jerusalem to rout of Eilat

Hapoel Jerusalem claimed its seventh-straight BSL win to remain top of the standings, beating Hapoel Eilat 82-65.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Jerusalem’s Lior Eliyahu (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Hapoel Jerusalem’s Lior Eliyahu
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Hapoel Jerusalem claimed its seventh-straight BSL win to remain top of the standings on Thursday night, beating Hapoel Eilat 82-65 on the road behind 24 points from Lior Eliyahu.
The 28-year-old forward, who joined Jerusalem in November after leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv last summer, scored his highest BSL point total in almost eight years, hitting 10-of-18 field-goal attempts and 4-of-5 free throws, while also registering five assists and taking four rebounds.
A tight first period ended in a 17-15 Eilat lead, but an 11-2 Jerusalem run put it in pole position (30-21) and they took a five-point gap (32-27) into the break.
Jerusalem scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half to open a double-digit margin (40-29) and Brad Greenberg’s team would score a total of 30 points in the third frame to increase its cushion to what would prove to be an unassailable 14 points (62-48) with 10 minutes to play.
Josh Duncan added 15 points for Jerusalem, which improved to a 10-3 record with its 10th win in its past 11 league games. Yotam Halperin scored 12 points and Derwin Kitchen finished with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Terrence Roderick led Eilat (7-6) with 12 points.
Three days after firing coach Robi Balinko, Barak Netanya (5-8) returned to winning ways, beating Bnei Herzliya (5-8) 70-63 in Yaniv Burger’s first game at the helm.
A 17-2 surge in the third quarter gave Netanya a 16-point lead (53-37), which it only barely hung on to.
Yehu Orland had 22 points for Netanya, which had lost its previous five games by an average 17.8 points.
Jakim Donaldson led Herzliya with 14 points.
After losing three consecutive BSL games, Maccabi Haifa (8-5) claimed its second straight win on Thursday, beating the sorry Maccabi Ashdod (2-11) 82-71.
Dagan Yavzuri had 23 points for Haifa, which opened a 14-point (45-31) halftime lead and never lost control.
Kenny Hayes scored 16 points for Ashdod, which lost its sixth straight contest.
Also Thursday, Hapoel Gilboa/ Galil (6-7) easily defeated Hapoel Holon (6-7) 87-70.
Gilboa outscored Holon 24-7 in the first 10 minutes and never looked back.
Rick Jackson led Gilboa with 18 points and 11 boards, with Isaac Rosefelt scoring 19 for Holon.
The showdown between Maccabi Tel Aviv (8-4) and Ironi Ness Ziona (7-5) was postponed to January 18.